


Dorks

by ZoeIsAspiring



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluffy Ending, I Don't Even Know, M/M, There's cussing, but idk, i'll apologize in advance, nico reads anime religiously just know, this is a coming out fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 18:18:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5880949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoeIsAspiring/pseuds/ZoeIsAspiring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Nico and Will are best friends but Nico makes a mistake that changes the dynamics of everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dorks

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not too happy with the title but I couldn't think of anything better lol. Oh, and I definitely used the headcannon that children of Apollo literally glow when they're happy. Enjoy!

_"Hey, so, um, I've gotta tell you that I'm, um, gods this is hard."_

_"That you're what, Will?"_

_"I'm overthinking this. Okay, so I'm bisexual. There's that. Big secret reveal. I like girls and . . . boys. Both."_

"I'm going to beat you!!!!"

Nico jolted from his memories of the night before and turned to raise an eyebrow at the blonde boy sprinting towards him. "I'm literally five feet from the door."

Will shouted in laughter and strode up the stairs as Nico casually leaned against the doorway.

"You lost, sunshine," he teased.

"Tackle!" Will leapt forward with the intent of pummeling his friend, but Nico calmly side-stepped out of the way. Will squeaked as he fell forward and landed flat on his face.

Nico snorted and gently kicked him in the side. "You're an idiot, you know."

Will rolled over onto his back. "I was close."

"No, you weren't." Nico lifted his foot and made it hover threateningly over Will's face.

Will just rolled his eyes and quipped, "You wouldn't dare," while he stretched out on the floor like a cat.

Nico lightly tapped his black converse against Will's forehead. "Yes, Will. I welcome you to make yourself at home in the middle of my floor," he said dryly. He walked over to his dresser and picked out a black shirt identical to the one that he was wearing barring scattered burn holes. (He hadn't been too successful on the climbing wall that day.)

"I thought we could read more of your anime," Will said playfully. He put his hands behind his head and peered at Nico from his position on the floor.

Nico turned slightly pink and tried to play it off by rolling his eyes. "I regret showing you them so much. You don't understand."

"Come on, I like them!" Will sat up and crawled over to Nico's bedside table and picked one up. "Like, I'm really into this haiku stuff, and I don't play volleyball."

Nico face-palmed. "It's called Haikyuu!! and don't touch it." He strode over and snatched the book out of Will's hands. "And can you get out? I only came back here to change my shirt."

"What, you can't just change your shirt with me in here?" Will teased. "Are you afraid I'll swoon at the sight of your six pack?"

The son of Hades turned beet red. "I just. . . I don't want you to look, okay?"

"I was kidding, Nico," Will said, the teasing twang gone from his voice. "It was a friendly joke."

"And I normally don't let my friends see me shirtless so." Nico resisted the urge to hide his face in the shirt in his hands and instead occupied himself by stating a little too intently at Hinata's face.

Will looked at him strangely. "Is it because of what I told you yesterday?"

Nico's gaze shot up from the volleyball anime. "Gods no. It's not because you're bi. You're still my friend! I just. . ." He closed his eyes. "I don't want to tell you the reason because I told Hazel and it was awkward and I don't want to have to tell you yet okay? Maybe later."

"What?"

Nico tugged on the hem of his shirt. "Basically, you're nothing special. No one sees me shirtless."

"Oh, okay. I understand." Will smiled, but it seemed almost disappointed? "I'll wait for you outside before we go to dinner. You can sit at the Apollo table since Percy and Jason and Hazel aren't here to eat with you at the big three table."

Nico sighed in relief. "Thanks. Now shoo, freak."

Will laughed and moved to the doorway. "Freak? That's a new one."

"I'm trying some new insults out. That one seems a little childish, don't you think?"

"A bit." He shrugged and grinned mischievously. "Grown folks call me daddy."

Nico did hide his face in the shirt at that. "My gods, Solace, there was line and you totally just crossed it."

"Sorry," he said gleefully as he backed out the door. "I'll wait outside."

Nico sighed and quickly replaced his shirt, a task that should've taken him seconds had Will not tried to attack him. He left his cabin and shut the door behind him. "Ok, let's go to dinner."

* * *

 

"This is pretty," Will said softly. He pointed at the lake that looked the same as usual and the sky that looked the same as usual. "Look at the moon!"

Nico smiled and looked sideways at his friend. Will had a habit of blurting out when he thought something was pretty, even if it was an everyday occurrence like the offering fire or the Artemis cabin. Will turned to grin at Nico, who felt his expression go a little too tender. He forced himself to look annoyed.

"The moon looks the same as always." Nico stared up at the stars and thought of Bianca. "You always point out the moon and it always looks the same."

"Nuh uh." Will pointed upward. "There were some clouds last time but now it's clear! I thought you appreciated clear skies."

"I do." And he did. Lots of stuff has changed, but the moon was always the same moon and that's why he loved it. "It's a little cold though."

"Do you want my jacket?" Will asked sincerely.

"That's gay," Nico said without thinking.

"No, it's bi," Will said half-heartedly.

Nico cringed at the hurt in his voice. He was so used to Percy and Jason doing gentlemanly things for him that he said it on impulse. Percy and Jason knew he was gay and that it was a self deprecating joke but Will on the other hand... "Will, I didn't mean-"

"It's getting kinda late," Will said softly, though it was different than his earlier tone. "I have a shift in the infirmary tomorrow that I have to get up early for so. . ."

Nico closed his eyes for a second and made a decision. "It's not that late," he said and grabbed Will’s arm. "Come on, I gotta tell you something in my cabin because I don't want the whole world to know about it."

"Nico, I've gotta-"

"No, you don't." He sighed and dragged the son of Apollo into the Hades cabin.

"Nico, I-"

"Look, I understand what you're feeling. You think I made a gay joke in bad taste, when that's not what happened, and you're upset."

"But you did make a gay joke," Will said quietly.

"Not in bad taste." Nico sighed and let go of Will's arm.

"It sure sounded like it." Will looked at him with wide, sad eyes.

"Urgh, stop looking at me like that!" Nico rubbed his temples.

"Like what?"

"Like I just kicked a puppy or something. Gods, you're right, this is so hard to do!" He took a deep breath and dropped his hands to his sides. "I'm g..." Nico choked on the word. He cleared his throat and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. "I'm gay. Now you know. The thing before was a joke. I was seriously kidding, Will. It wasn't supposed to offend you."

Will stared uncomprehending. "Really?"

"Legit." Nico swallowed and attempted to calm his nerves. "I wouldn't fake come out to you."

There was a silence as Will simply looked at the son of Hades.

Nico shifted his weight awkwardly and began babbling, "Jason already knew because of this whole thing on the quest with freaking Cupid, and I told Percy because I needed some closure with this crush I used to have on him and I told Hazel because she's my sister and I told Reyna because she's Reyna but not anyone else so you can't tell anyone and I actually was planning on waiting to tell you but then you came out to me and l just had to open my mouth and-"

Will jerkily pulled Nico to his chest and gave him a tight hug. Nico let out a soft oomph in response.

"Thanks for telling me," Will whispered sincerely.

Nico relaxed into him for a moment before gently pushing away. "I didn't want you to go to bed thinking I was... Whatever you would've thought I was."

Will nodded and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I was a little worried."

Nico stared at his shoes. "I know I make fun of you a lot, but I wouldn't touch that if I was straight, okay? It was supposed to be ironic, I guess."

"I understand."

The corners of Nico's mouth twitched to smile and he didn't know why. "Okay."

"Cool." Will hesitated a moment, then quickly leaned forward and briefly pressed his lips to Nico's cheek. "See you tomorrow!"

Nico stared as Will raced out the door and ran to the Apollo cabin. He lightly brushed his fingers over his cheek. "Fuck you, Solace," he whispered. "That was supposed to leave us both less confused."

* * *

 

The next day, Will rose with the sun and scampered out the door with the intent of going over to the Hades cabin and waking up Nico because Nico hated being woken up. Honestly, Will hated waking up too, but it was worth it to see his friend turn into a little ball of rage. Today, however, Nico was already awake and sitting on the steps of the Apollo cabin.

"You're up early," Will said in surprise. "I was coming to wake you up."

"I know, and today I took away your chance. Ha," Nico said humorlessly. "I'm physically dead right now."

There were some serious bags under his eyes that were so purple, they looked like bruises. The doctor and friend in Will wanted to order him to sleep, but the logic in Will knew that Nico wouldn't appreciate it. "You normally go back to sleep after I wake you."

"Yeah, well, there wasn't any sleep to go back to last night." He stood and crossed his arms. "And I'm lowkey pissed at you."

"At me?" Will said in bewilderment.

"Yeah! What the fuvk did this mean???" Nico tapped his cheek with too much enthusiasm. "What the fuck?"

"You stayed up all night because of that?" Will said in horror. "I kept you up with a peck on the cheek?"

"Was that all it was?" Nico snarled. "Another weirdly touchy Will thing? Or was it a I-want-to-fuck-with-Nico thing? Or a punishment for the joke that wasn't even that bad and I apologized so!"

Will rolled his eyes. "You are so dense."

Nico blinked and took a step backward. "You are fucking with me."

"No." Will looked down at his feet. "I was trying to show you that I have a crush on you because that's normally what it means when you kiss someone: that you like them." He looked up to see Nico gaping at him. "That never even crossed your mind, did it?"

Nico stared. "The fuck?"

Will sighed. "You curse so much when you're tired. Just... Forget I said anything."

"How can I forget that you just told me that you liked me?" Nico squeaked. "Stop messing with me."

"Nico!" Will said in exasperation. "Why would I lie?"

"Why would it be true?" It was a question asked of pure curiosity. He really had no clue.

"Because of who you are as a person?" Will took a step closer. "You're always sarcastic and teasing and you want to be treated like an adult so you try to act like one but you've got this adorably childish enthusiasm about such geeky things and you act like you don't care but I've seen you with the little kids during training and you're so freaking cute especially right here-" He reached out and touched a tuff of Nico's hair that never wanted to lay flat. "And it makes me so... fucking angry when you act like there's no reason to like you."

Nico was speechless. He buried his face in his hands, blushing furiously.

"See? This is adorable," Will said softly. He swallowed in attempt to make his heart drop from his throat and back to its normal spot.

"I'm too tired to process this," Nico said suddenly, his voice muffled by his hands. "Maybe I did fall asleep and I'm still dreaming."

"It's not a dream." Will awkwardly dropped his hand and shifted his weight. "And now I feel like an idiot, so maybe you could tell me how you feel about me so I know what we are now."

Nico peeked at him through his fingers. "I hate you and I want to kiss your face."

Will grinned. "Sure, but you need to actually get some sleep first so I know you're not just saying that."

"No, I'm positive that I hate you, Solace," Nico insisted. "And I've wanted to kiss your face for months."

"Go to sleep and we'll see when you wake up, okay?" Will patted the top of Nico's head and pushed him toward his cabin. "You're sleepy, so I can't take you too seriously."

* * *

 

Eight hours later, and Will was pawing at Nico's face. "Wake up, sleepy head!"

Nico sat up in bed and blinked at him. "I had a dream that you confessed your love to me."

"A dream?" Will said guardedly.

"Yeah. You never said love this morning, only like," Nico said pointedly.

"So you remember?" He grinned and it was like the sun shone inside, literally.

"How could I forget you fawning all over me? You petted my hair." Nico squinted. "Stop smiling; you're blinding me."

"Sorry. And it wasn't really petting," Will said defensively. "I just touched your hair like this." He reached out and poked Nico's bed head.

Nico caught his hand. "I'm rested now and I still want to kiss your face."

"Thank the gods." Will breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't thank them," Nico warned. "Or else my dad or, gods forbid, your dad will come down and mess everything up."

"They'd do that anyway."

"Shit, you're right," Nico said with false realization. "We'd better make out wildly before that happens."

"Have you ever 'made out wildly' with someone?" Will attempted to hide his smile so as to not blind Nico again. He was always literally glowing around that boy.

"Have you?"

"Nope."

Nico snorted. "Then it'll be gross because we're inexperienced or whatever. Better hold off then."

"So are you going to kiss me or not?"

Nico cupped Will's face in his hands. "Come here."

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry. I suck at endings. I tried, okay?


End file.
